


When the Golden Rule and the Jungle Meet

by AmeInTheRain



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Beta Read we die like the clowns we are, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, If you see typos yes you do I am too lazy to fix them, M/M, Maybe it wasn’t beta read after all, Mutual Pining, Pining, Rivals to Lovers, Science, Slow Burn, again kinda, bea and amira are the only sane ones here, everything escalates way too quickly because i'm bad at writing, i care him very much, kinda???, look they're dumb, thank you to felix for helping me write a pargraph, what kind of science? idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27471961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmeInTheRain/pseuds/AmeInTheRain
Summary: Marshal, Bea, and Amira are a group of scientists in training. That is, until a man who is most likely not human comes barreling down the hallway late at night.
Relationships: Marshal Westbrook (OC) & Everyone, Marshal Westbrook (OC)/Shane Oswald (OC), Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Kudos: 2





	When the Golden Rule and the Jungle Meet

**Author's Note:**

> So this took like 4 months, I started this back in july and only just now finished so please enjoy the longest things i've ever written 
> 
> also the title is from & by tally hall because i am predictable

Marshal was working late one night. It had been a long shift, full of paperwork, squinting, and hand cramps from all the writing he had to do. Marshal was probably the only one left in the lab at this time of night.

He gathered up his things and stuffed them all in his backpack. Organization’s for nerds. 

Marshal walked outside the door and checked for any signs of movement but heard a faint conversation somewhere. He couldn’t quite manage to make anything out of what they were saying, only snippets. 

“Have you ever seen it before?”

“It’s unknown what exactly it is but its ‘human’ form has short brown hair.”

“Did it have any other prominent features?”

“No, it just looked like a normal human…”

The doctor huffs. 

Marshal made sure to make a mental note of that last part.

But what were they talking about?

Marshal noticed that the conversation stopped. He then noticed the pair of footsteps making their way towards him. He quickly sped up down the hallway. 

As he was walking down the hallway, Marshal was startled by a sudden crash and quicker footsteps from behind him. Whatever it was is rushing towards him god knows how quickly. He sped up his pace even more. 

Is it the thing those people were talking about? Oh, god. C’mon Marshal you could die in so many better ways.

Whatever it was paid him no mind and quickly ran past him. He even got a “Sorry, man!” from it.

It quickly turned the corner and it disappeared out of sight. Marshal stood there, attempting to form even the slightest idea of what just happened.

Whatever he ran into plagued Marshal’s mind on the drive back home, he still couldn’t understand what it was. With the combination of exhaustion and sheer confusion, he shouldn’t have been driving at this time of night.

He jammed the key into the hole and unlocked the door into his apartment, greeted by that oh, too familiar feeling of emptiness seemingly wafting its way through the AC unit. He sighed and shut the door. 

He opened up the fridge, not much in it, he’d probably have to go grocery shopping soon. He flipped through the items in the fridge, instant noodles, some eggs, just an unopened bottle of sriracha sauce, ooh, leftover teriyaki from last night. 

He grabbed the container of chicken and popped it in the microwave. It tasted fine, a little worse than when he first made it, but still edible. 

After finishing his dinner, he took a moment to stretch and headed to bed. 

-=-

Marshal had been a little bit late to work but it was fine. Or at least he hoped it would be fine. It wasn’t like his boss would fire him.

Or he'd actually set him on fire.

He hoped.

He pulled into the parking lot after a long fight with the machine that let him in. The parking lot was already very full and thus, started the endless loops around the lot to find a free spot. After what felt like an eternity, he finally found a spot.

He was still tired and he could just tell there were bags under his eyes. He pulled his car mirror down, noticing that damn cowlick was back. He groaned. 

As he leaned back from the mirror, Marshal was suddenly overcome with the feeling that he was being watched. He stiffened, apprehensively scanning the parking lot, but there was no one there. No one but a young man with short, light brown hair and eyes, leisurely entering the building. In the split second before the door closed behind the man, Marshal could have sworn the stranger had thrown him an unsettling smirk.

He hoped it was just a coincidence.

He nervously walked into the building, keeping a close eye on anything that moved. He rushed into the lab and quickly grabbed his microscope from the cabinet. He just wanted to get the day over with and do as much he could. 

A simple tap on his shoulder was enough to make him snap out of his trance, he looked up. His co-worker, Amira.

“Could you make me some copies of these documents for me?” Amira asks. Marshal nods, tucking some of his hair behind his ear.

-=- 

In the break room, Bea has finished steeping her tea and set her book down, noticing a figure looming in the doorway. 

Bea smiles at it. “Morning!” She says and takes a small sip of her cup. “Care for some?”

The young man cocks his head to the side. “No. I’m good.” 

Bea nods and puts the kettle back on the stove. “I’ve never seen you before, you new?” She asks.

“Yeah, it’s my first day.” Bea extends her arm.

“Name’s Bea,”

“Shane.” He says. Shane shakes Bea’s hand

“Amira’s the woman in the green jacket, and Marshal’s the-”

“Grey-haired dude. Already familiar.” He chuckles to himself.

Shane glances up as Marshal walks in. Marshal’s expression immediately changes. He then backs out slowly.

-=-

Marshal quickly walks out of the office, Shane following behind him. But Shane kept following him. 

“Can you like, not?” Marshal blurts out. Shane looks up.

“Huh?” 

“You’re standing close and you keep following me. Can you stop it?”

Shane shrugs. “Nah.” 

Marshal had to physically restrain himself from throwing Shane out of a window.

Marshal sighed and slid back into his chair. He made sure to keep a close watch on Shane while organizing his papers, he didn’t want the man to blow himself up or something. 

Not that he would care, he just didn’t want to pay the bills again. 

He kept thinking about how similar Shane looked to whatever those scientists were describing and that dude staring at him in the parking lot. Short, curly, light brown hair, and eyes.

What the hell was with this dude?

He shuffled through his notes to possibly jot down more. He was planning on diligently taking notes on this man. 

As the sun through the windows began to fade into darkness, the people faded away too, until only Marshal and Shane were left. 

Might as well attempt to interrogate him since they were alone. 

“So, what brought you here.” Marshal leans against his desk.

Shane shrugs again. “I dunno, it just kinda spoke to me.”

“Did you just move here?”

“No, I’ve been camping out in the lab for the past week!” 

Marshal looks at him in confusion. 

“Obviously not! It’s just a joke.”

Marshal let out an exasperated huff. “Do you like baked ziti?”

“What?”

“Like dinner. Would you like to come over for dinner?”

“Wow, so romantic… we barely even know each other,” Shane says. 

“Say that again and I’ll never speak to you again.”

Shane puts his hands up. “Okay okay!”

-=-

So Marshal ended up driving home… with Shane in the passenger’s seat. 

It was an awkwardly silent ride that seemed to last an eternity. 

“Kitchen’s over there if you wanna sit down,” Marshal says. He opens the door into the apartment with Shane following after him. “I’ll get the pasta ready.” 

Shane nods, silently. Marshal glanced over at him suspiciously… just to make sure he wasn’t going to break anything. 

Marshal tried his best to engage in small talk, all under the guise of interrogation. 

“So where do you come from.” He asks. 

Marshal receives nothing in response, just a chuckle from Shane. He huffs. 

“Alright then… anything else I should ask you?” Marshal says again, trying to speak a little louder this time. He looks over to Shane again and catches Shane staring at him, his eyes glowing like a cat. 

To say that he rushed to finish up making dinner would be an understatement. 

“Here.” He tosses down a plate full of the pasta. 

Shane opens his mouth and takes a bite. Marshal looks at him, noticing those all too familiar eyes. 

Every time Shane took a bite was long and drawn out just to spite him. What were 15 minutes felt like days. 

He practically had to shove Shane out the door to get him to leave. 

He shut the door quickly and quickly walked towards his bedroom. 

-=- 

Marshal barely slept that night. 

No matter how hard he tried to fall asleep, nothing would happen. He just laid there, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about him… he couldn’t stop thinking about Shane and he couldn’t tell why. He couldn’t discern what kind of thoughts they even were. 

He wanted to get to the bottom of Shane because Shane didn’t seem human. He wanted to figure out what Shane is and who he is. 

His mind was racing. Marshal sighs and turns himself over and shuts his eyes. 

Not even his dreams let him take his mind off of Shane. He just kept thinking about him. 

Marshal burst up from his bed. He rubbed his eyes and looked over at his alarm clock. 

It was still 7:30, he wasn’t supposed to get up for another 30 minutes. He sighed. Might as well get to work early. 

He unlocked his car and made his way to the labs. Not many cars were out this early. God, he was going to be exhausted by the time he goes home tonight.

He walks into the lab, no one in sight as expected. He might as well jot some notes down before a certain someone comes and eavesdrops. 

Marshal’s handwriting is crude and almost indecipherable when written quickly and he tried to write down as much as he could as fast as he could. He didn’t want to risk it. 

‘Shane Oswald(?)  
-smartass  
-humanity pending  
-looks human  
-light brown hair and eyes (like those scientists were saying)’

He doodles a small image of Shane from memory. It felt weird drawing him. 

He decided to take his mind off things before work started. He set his notepad down and took a quick walk. 

-=-

Shane has caught a glimpse of Marshal working, luckily Marshal never spotted him. 

Shane peeked over at the notepad and quickly read the notes. He had to keep himself from laughing. Was that drawing supposed to be him? He chuckled. 

He sensed someone coming down the hallway, so Shane quickly tore out the piece of paper and shoved it in his pocket, and began to quickly walk away until…

“What are you doing here?!” Marshal says, walking back in. Shane begins to sweat when Marshal speeds over to his notepad and notices the missing page.

The two of them both turn pink. 

Marshal begins to stammer. “Did you take that page of my notepad?!”

“No! Why would I ever-“

“Give it back! That has private information that isn’t for you!” He yells while trying to grab at the piece of paper in Shane’s hand. 

“THEN WHY WAS IT ABOUT ME?” Shane retaliates. The room fell silent after that.

Marshal looked down, Shane couldn’t tell if it was defeat or embarrassment. 

“Please, just give it back, Shane…” He sighs after a long pause. 

Shane walks towards him, clutching the page. Marshal steps back out of reflex. Shane shoves the page onto Marshal’s chest and makes sure that his fingers linger on Marshal’s shoulder. 

“Take it. It’s yours anyway.” Shane says, brushing past him.

Marshal uncrumpled the piece of paper and looked down at it.

It was just a normal piece of notebook paper. 

Marshal looked up from the paper and took a sharp inhale. 

-=-

Marshal had to keep a close watch on his things that day. He didn’t want to risk it. But despite that, he never saw Shane after that first encounter. It worried him, much to his chagrin.

After work, Marshal walked over to Amira. She looked up at him. “What?”

“Have you seen Shane?” Marshal asks in a hushed tone. Amira cocks her head. Marshal sighs. “The new guy? Kinda short and lanky, brown hair?” Amira chuckles. 

“Oh, your little friend?” She says sarcastically. “No clue.”

“Thanks, I guess.” He walks off. He was worried that he said something to upset Shane. He still decided to look for him. That bastard was probably in the air vents or something. He was just practicing what he wanted to say to him. He didn’t want to mess up more.

He turned the corner only to find him staring at him. 

“Shane! You’re just the person I wanted to see!” Shane looked up. “I wanted to apologize for the notes I took. I understand if you’re uncomfortable or mad.” Marshal stopped when he saw that stupid shit-eating grin plastered across Shane’s face. 

Shane knew then to say something that would make Marshal’s blood boil. 

He brings his hand up to his forehead. “Would it be so hard to just talk to me like a NORMAL HUMAN?!” Marshal yells, waving his arm around wildly. He didn’t mean for it to sound so… harsh.

A hush fell over the room. It made Marshal uncomfortable. Shane opens his mouth.

“You… you don’t know, do you?” He says with a slight chuckle. Marshal put his arms down.

“What do you mean?” Marshal says. He’s trying to hide how terrified he sounds, he has no idea if it’s working. But something clicks in Marshal’s mind. “Oh…” he says. “Oh.”

“Indeed.” Shane grins a wide smile. Marshal quickly looked away.

Shane makes a face at him. Marshal sighs. 

He hands Marshal the actual notebook. Marshal has to restrain himself from snatching it out of Shane’s hand. 

Shane spun on his heel and walked back the way he came.

He always had a habit of leaving Marshal speechless.

He didn’t want to but he just had to follow Shane, probably just out of sheer curiosity.

He wanted to know where he went. He wanted to keep a close eye on him. 

He hated that he was worried about Shane. Despite that, he decided to just go home

-=-

He arrived home at about 9:30, a little later than when he normally gets home, but still enough time for him to be alone with his thoughts. 

He laid down on the bed and tried to recollect the events that had taken place that day. The pieces began to click. 

Of course, Shane wasn’t human, he should have guessed that right from the get-go. The glowing eyes, that weird habit of showing up out of nowhere, he was what those scientists were after. 

That’s when it hits him. 

Marshal realizes that Shane is being hunted down by those scientists. He didn’t know what they would do to him. 

-=-

Thoughts.

Shane’s brain was filled with thoughts. Thoughts about him. Thoughts about Marshal. He leaned into the seat he was in and spun around in it. Shane was never the best at showing emotions, nor reading others. He always ended up saying something shitty and sarcastic. But with Marshal, it felt different. Every time he saw Marshal get flustered or angry, he felt butterflies in his stomach. He thought about that notebook page Marshal had written, it was all about him, he remembered how much he started blushing over every little detail. 

He knew what would happen. He knows he’s not human. 

He knew that, eventually, he could end up hurting Marshal. 

He couldn’t tell him. Marshal already knew Shane wasn’t human. (He should’ve realized it earlier).

He sighs and leans back in the chair and shuts his eyes. Hopefully tomorrow, he could make his move. Whatever that move was. 

-=-

The next morning at work, Marshal was brought into Edwards’ office. 

“You know, that partner of yours is rather unique.” He says. Marshal looks up. 

“You mean Shane?” Edwards nods his head. “I suppose so…” 

“Keep a close eye on him, alright? He’s been acting suspicious lately and I’ve had a couple of others complain about him.” 

“What do you mean?”

“Well, that’s classified information, I’m not allowed to share it.” 

Marshal purses his lips. “Ah, I see. Well, I guess I’ll be going.” Marshal replies, trying to push down that gut feeling of sheer terror. He slips out of the office and back to his work station. He still hadn’t seen Shane at all during his shift. 

He walked out of the labs and over to the corkboard, on it was a sheet of paper with ‘Have you seen me?’ written across it and a picture of no one else but Shane. Marshal honestly wasn’t surprised at this point. He wasn’t even surprised by Shane himself hovering around the poster. 

“So… uh…” Marshal begins. 

“Yeah…” Shane replies. Marshal turns to him. 

“Are you free after work? With all of this going on, it might be nice to just sit down?” He can already feel the insults about to be hurled at him. But instead, he just gets a laugh from Shane. Like a real, genuine laugh. He hates to admit it but it catches him off guard.

“Look at Marshal, such a flirt.” Shane chuckles to himself, playfully pushing Marshal a bit. “Guess I’ll bite. Where were you thinking?”

“There’s a pond behind my apartment, we can just talk, I guess.” 

“Riveting.”

“Shut up.”

Shane giggles. 

-=-

The stone bounces a few times on the surface of the water until it falls in. 

“Wow, I didn’t know how good you were at skipping stones,” Marshal says. “When’d you learn how to do it?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever done this in my life,” Shane replies. 

“What? Come on. Then how do you keep skipping them so well?”

Shane shrugs. Marshal sat down on the concrete block above the pond, the cool breeze brushing past him. Shane sat down as well. 

Marshal sighs. “Alright, this is gonna sound kinda weird but, what are you? Like, I know you’re not technically human but you’re also still a human.”

“I don’t know, man. I’m not one thing or another, I just kinda am. If you get me.” Shane says. 

“I honestly should’ve realized it sooner.” He laughs. “I’ve always been kinda bad at picking up on things but, with you, it’s a whole other story.”

Shane smiles but turns his head when Marshal gets up and grabs his keys 

“Where are you going?” Shane asks. 

“Well, it’s getting late, do you want me to drive you home?” Marshal replies. 

Shane pauses. “About that.” He says. And smiles awkwardly. “You know how I joked about me camping out in the labs?” 

“Oh my god.”

“Yep.”

“You were being serious…” Marshal groans. “What do I do now then?!”

Shane smirks.

-=-

Marshal and Shane walked into his apartment. 

“Just because I’m letting you stay over for the foreseeable future doesn’t mean I trust you. Don’t try anything stupid, okay?” Marshal says. 

“Fine, fine. It’s your house.”

“The second bedroom’s over- No, NO THAT’S MY BEDROOM, SHANE!” He pushes Shane in the opposite direction. “Anyway, it’s right there if you wanna crash. I’m probably gonna go to bed too, it’s been a long day.” He yawns. 

Marshal let Shane sleep in the guest bedroom and Shane quickly fell asleep. Marshal backed away slowly from Shane and lay down in his bed. He prayed to whatever god was out there that Shane wouldn’t try to murder him in his sleep. 

-=-

“Hey, you got anything else you wanna share?” Marshal says. 

“Not really.” Shane snickers, his hand slowly making its way up to Marshal’s shoulder. 

Marshal laughs as he notices Shane’s hand. “What are you-“ his voice is cut off when Shane’s lips meet his. He’s caught off guard but he’s not complaining. 

When Shane pulls back, he’s a nervous wreck, he’s nothing like Marshal has ever seen and it makes him laugh again. “Sorry I just wanted to-“ Marshal kisses him back. 

He jolts up from his bed, a confused and sweating mess. 

What the hell was that?! Ugh, why would he ever want to kiss him?! 

He thinks to himself, still trying to process it. 

He wouldn’t have dreamt it if he hadn’t thought of it… but why him? Why Shane? Does he want Shane to kiss him? 

He comes to the realization. “Oh god, I want to kiss Shane.” He cups his face in his hands.

-=-

Shane awoke in an unfamiliar place. It wasn’t the lab, it wasn’t in Marshal’s apartment. He hadn’t the slightest clue where the hell he was. A green-tinted glow washed over him making him squeeze his eyes shut. He had a splitting headache. Shane’s body felt like it was unraveling. He didn’t feel like himself anymore. He didn’t feel like anything anymore, or at least, a perceivable concept. 

Unspeakable.

That’s how he remembers people describing him. Some icky inconceivable creature. That was supposed to be him?

Then the puzzle pieces click.

Oh. 

He was supposed to be the bad guy. 

Shane leans his head against the glass, pondering at this new revelation. It all makes sense now.

But he doesn’t want to be the bad guy. He thinks about Beatrice, that’s what they call her, right? She was always so friendly and offered him something to drink the first day he was in the lab. And Amira who, despite her tough demeanor, was just a fun-loving person and laughed at his jokes. 

And Marshal, god, Marshal. Marshal was the only thing that kept Shane going. The way that his hair would puff up whenever he got flustered, or his willingness to still become friends with him despite Shane’s absent-minded remarks, or the backflips his stomach did whenever they were alone together. 

The scientists didn’t want this. Neither did he. And Bea, Marshal, and Amira certainly did not deserve to be roped into this mess. But he just had to go and make friends. He just had to let his guard down and look where that got him, stuck in some weird cell with no way to get out. Shane brings his knees up to his chest and shuts his eyes. 

-=-

He felt something changing beneath his skin, he felt like he was burning up. Shane opened his eyes wide, he felt like he was unraveling. 

“Wait, what is that thing?!” Shane heard a voice from behind him and looked around. “What’s it doing?! That’s not supposed to happen!” The voice said, their voice sounding terrified. 

Shane could barely keep his eyes on anything, his entire vision was red. But, he caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the green-tired glass. 

He hardly looked like himself anymore, his hair and eyes were there, sure, and his shape was still humanoid, but there was just some layer of an unspeakable being in him. Something unlike the world has ever seen. 

Shane was hardly Shane anymore. He laid there, feeling nothing more than just an amorphous being. His fingers had grown and sharpened into claws, there was a mess of limbs surrounding him, each one ribbon-like and a deep purple. His eyes changed to a piercing yellow. And it hurt like hell. He tried to push down his instinct to scream but he didn’t want to draw attention to himself, God knows what the people would do if they realized what was happening. He felt blood trickling down his cheek, where it was coming from, he didn’t know. He shifted so that he was facing the glass and leaned to scrape his claws against it, hoping to alert them. 

The rest of that night was a blur, Shane felt like he had lost control over his body. 

-=-

Marshal wakes up with a splitting headache and gets up to check on Shane, only to find his house empty of all life, well, excluding him of course. 

He drives to work with a sinking feeling in his stomach, he feels empty. 

Marshal gets out of his car and feels a wave of loneliness wash over him like a wave. It’s been a while since he’s felt truly alone. Ever since he had met Shane, he’d always felt like he was being watched. 

The thought sent shivers down his spine. 

Bea and Amira hadn’t heard from him either. God, he was starting to get worried. He drove home alone, too. Shane hadn’t shown up the entire day, Marshal expected him to at least come in late, but no. 

The next day, Marshal leaves the lab and arrives back home. He pays himself down to find his keys but they’re nowhere to be found. 

“Shit.” He exclaims. He’d probably need to drive back to work just to get into his apartment. He hops back into his car and drives there. 

As soon as he’s let in, something feels off. Sure, it’s weird that no one’s there, but there’s an overwhelming sense of someone still there. He stumbles through the dark and into a room he’s never seen before. It’s tinted green and there’s some figure in the middle of the room standing idly but frantically looking around as if it was hiding from something. Marshal winces when he bumps into the glass and the figure whips its head around. Its eyes glow a bright yellow and it looks almost purple, but it’s hair, he knows that hair, and he knows that face. 

“Shane?” He says hesitantly. He looks at the creature- no- at Shane. Shane looks terrified and backs himself into a corner. 

“What are you doing here?” Shane yells. 

“I was gonna ask the same thing. What’s happening to you?” Marshal’s eyes are drawn to Shane’s now clawed fingertips. 

“This wasn’t supposed to happen, I-“ Shane is cut off when he hears a noise from behind him. “Go! You have to go now, I dunno what they’ll do if they find out someone else is here,” Shane whispers in a hushed tone. 

“But what about you?”

“I’ll be fine just go!” Marshal reluctantly runs back outside and locks the doors tight. 

He gets into his car, keys still in hand, and sighs against the seat.

-=- 

He goes to work with nothing but worry on his mind. He barely got any work done before a man Marshal’d never seen before approached him. 

“I wanted to inquire about your presence in the facility last night.” He says. 

Marshal gulped. “I promise it was for a good reason, I just left my key to my apartment and had to come back for them. I-“

“What did you see?” The man interrupts. 

“It was my friend,” Oh God, friend, “Shane. Shane Oswald. I don’t know what happened to him.”

The man nodded. “He’s safe and taken care of and that section of this facility has been shut down indefinitely, but do not tell anyone about what you saw last night.” He barely waits for a response before he turns his back and walks away. 

Marshal lets out a sigh of relief. Shane was safe but where was Shane?

-=-

He walks back into his apartment still alone. No one at all. He checked in the guest room, maybe Shane was hiding in there? Nothing. Nothing, except for a crumpled up piece of paper on the bedside table that Marshal swore wasn’t there the day prior. 

Marshal picked it up and examined it. It was a piece torn from a notebook and the handwriting was messy and hastily written in a blue gel pen, it was most definitely Shane’s. 

‘I don’t know how to convey this or who I’m writing to. Maybe I’m just writing my thoughts down and I’ll keep it to myself till the day I die but, I keep thinking about him. I keep thinking about Marshal, he’s so funny ‘cuz his hair gets all puffed up when he gets angry. He looks so stupid. I know that whatever he’s making me feel, it’s not just a ‘friends’ thing, I know that I want it to be more but, how do I tell him? I always just end up making him upset by saying something shitty, even though it’s kinda cute. I know that by the time I’ll even get to tell him, it’ll be too late. Because I made the stupid decision to hide in plain sight, hide where there are people still trying to find me. And then it wasn’t like I could leave, I couldn’t just leave them behind. I’ll probably be gone if he ever finds this.’

There’s a small gap in between the next sentence. ‘If Marshal ever sees this, I’m sorry. I l-‘

Shane’s handwriting trails off into an indecipherable text that Marshal couldn’t understand. His heart sank, he barely even noticed that he was crying until a single teardrop splashed onto the paper. 

“L?” He said out loud. Marshal leaned back against the wall. He wiped his face with his arm. He messed up. He’ll never get to apologize, he’ll never get to figure out what Shane was saying, the state of his mind right now makes the room feel like it’s spinning. 

He didn’t know when Shane would come back. He won’t get to say he’s sorry. 

2 days pass, 6 days pass, 3 weeks pass and there’s absolutely nothing. 

He was starting to lose hope.

-=-

It was an early fall morning, about 1:45 AM when Marshal was awoken from his sleep by the sound of his door rattling, he felt his adrenaline rush through his veins. Was someone breaking in? Oh god, oh no.

He rushed into the main hall and quickly turned on the lights, the bright light blinding him temporarily. He squinted. “Whoever you are, get out!” He yelled. The figure didn’t answer. 

Marshal’s eyes adjusted to the light, only to be greeted by that oh so familiar hair and eyes. 

“Hi,” Shane said, his voice scratchy. “Miss me?” Shane tried to hold back the urge to cringe, dammit, he didn’t mean to sound shitty. He expected Marshal to be mad at him, instead, he felt pulled into a warm embrace. Marshal’s arms wrapped around Shane, his face nuzzled in the crook of Shane’s shoulder. Shane tried to hold back his blush. He just stood there, like time stood still, he didn’t know what to do. Should he hug him back? 

Shane hesitantly ran a hand through Marshal’s hair, only to be given another sob in response. Shit, he just missed it up more. 

Shane rested his head on top of Marshal’s. Marshal inhaled sharply. 

“I saw your letter, Shane. I know,” He begins, Shane’s blood runs cold. “I know you just have a hard time with words, I know that you still care, and I know that you’re sorry.” He pauses, “And I’m sorry too, I’m sorry I never understood you. I-“

“I love you,” Marshal says. Shane feels the familiar butterflies. Who knew that three words could destroy a man.

There’s no going back now. Marshal’s mind begins to wander. 

“And I mean that, Shane. I mean that in the most direct way possible,” He sees the look on Shane’s face. “And you don’t need to say it back but I-“ Marshal is cut off when Shane bridges the gap between them and kisses him square on the lips. Shane stops, looking worried for Marshal, Marshal quickly takes Shane’s face in his hands and kisses him. Marshal was honestly surprised when Shane kissed him back. 

Marshal is surprisingly gentle, he places soft kisses on Shane’s lips all the while, his arms wrapped around Shane’s neck. Shane honestly feels like he’s going to cry, the entire experience felt too sweet. He leans back. 

“I-“ He begins. “God, Shane, it took me a while to figure it out but it was worth it. I know we didn’t start off on the right track but you’re honestly the greatest person I’ve ever met.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Shane mutters, leaning against Marshal’s shoulder. He presses his lips against Marshal’s once more as Marshal smiles.

-=-

“Do they look… happier than normal?” Bea asks as Amira looks up from her paper.

“Oh,” Amira says. “Oh, they absolutely realized it.” 

“So who won the bet?” 

“You did,” Amira groans and hands Bea a dollar. “But I was the one who called it first.”

**Author's Note:**

> bea and amira basically had a contest to bet when shane and marshal would actually realize that they're crushing on each other 
> 
> you can check out more of my stuff at my tumblr @ame-in-the-rain


End file.
